Scaleforum 2020

Announcements, recommendations, visit reports etc. Discussion of the Society's own shows.
nigelcliffe
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby nigelcliffe » Thu May 07, 2020 2:59 pm

Martin Wynne wrote:Here's an article about using your normal digital camera for online conferences instead of the usual selfie "up your nose" laptop webcam.

It's a bit techy, but worth a read (if you don't mind reading white text on black):

http://friedmanarchives.blogspot.com/20 ... ality.html

Martin.


A bit complex involving dongles and software, but no doubt works with the "right" combinations.

As two possible half-way house options on the complexity stakes....
Some smartphones will connect to computer via "cast" methods to a laptop as an alternative camera (depends on Smartphone maker's choice of "cast" method), so can use the camera in the phone which is often quite decent, particularly the one on the rear of the phone. Lashing that up for an over the shoulder shot of a workbench ought to be within the skills of a typical layout baseboard builder !
Canon have released some free software for their recent DSLR cameras (and a few non DSLR), to use those cameras as an input for WebCam use on Windows machines.


- Nigel

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Captain Kernow
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Captain Kernow » Thu May 07, 2020 4:10 pm

All this talk of complexity and complicated editing etc.!

I was one of those who added some layout video to the RMWeb 'virtual' event a couple of weeks ago.

The layout concerned was my new 'tinplate' OO layout 'Bethesda Sidings'. I filmed some shunting on my phone, added some of the 'library' music from YouTube and posted it on the thread.

Here's a photo of the high-tech set up:
IMG_9604.jpg


The bits of card and arrangement of the masking tape was particularly tricky and taxed my filmography skills to the limit, but I got there in the end.
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Tim M
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PeteT
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby PeteT » Thu May 07, 2020 4:14 pm

Martin Wynne wrote:usual selfie "up your nose" laptop webcam.


how is a normal laptop webcam up your nose? your eyes are supposed to be level with the top of the screen at most anyway, and with the camera above that it is by default above eye level.

Granted some people do sit with a laptop on their lap (as per the name) but as this isn't good for lengthy use anyway it would seem, to me, to be the easy fix.

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Neil Smith
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Neil Smith » Thu May 07, 2020 9:26 pm

Captain Kernow wrote:The bits of card and arrangement of the masking tape was particularly tricky and taxed my filmography skills to the limit, but I got there in the end.


Or, just type "mobile phone tripod mount" into your favourite search engine, part with less than a fiver and in a couple of days you could have a good little mount to hold the phone steady....

All the best

Neil

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Paul Willis
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Paul Willis » Fri May 08, 2020 6:35 am

PeteT wrote:
Martin Wynne wrote:usual selfie "up your nose" laptop webcam.


how is a normal laptop webcam up your nose? your eyes are supposed to be level with the top of the screen at most anyway, and with the camera above that it is by default above eye level.

Granted some people do sit with a laptop on their lap (as per the name) but as this isn't good for lengthy use anyway it would seem, to me, to be the easy fix.


Pete makes an excellent point, and definitely shouldn't be ignored.

We moved to remote working before the lockdown started. After about six weeks I started getting lower back pain, and went through the office's H&S online workplace assessment tool. It's a bit nanny state, but this has similar information in it:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck1.pdf

The difference had been sitting at my home desk for nine or ten hours a day, rather than the usual one or two. I was hunching, and twisting my spine. So the solution was simple - clear a bit of space around the desk to sit square, and raise the laptop on a spare Really Useful Box.

IMG_6480.JPG


This may not work for everyone - I already had a separate keyboard and mouse - but please do check it out before you have a problem. Whilst the pain has reduced, my back still isn't right.

Take care,
Flymo
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Re6/6
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Re6/6 » Fri May 08, 2020 7:13 am

If there is a will to have a 'virtual' show of some sort surely all that is needed is to create a dedicated section of the forum and announce it. Members will then do the rest.

Here are a couple of Tim's videos.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOEc-vxWk9I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2XtCg_xExk
John

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Captain Kernow
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Captain Kernow » Fri May 08, 2020 8:17 am

PeteT wrote:
Martin Wynne wrote:usual selfie "up your nose" laptop webcam.
how is a normal laptop webcam up your nose? your eyes are supposed to be level with the top of the screen at most anyway, and with the camera above that it is by default above eye level.


Goodness me, is there actually official guidance for using a laptop?

Perhaps all those interviewees we see on the news these days should be told! Clearly placing one's laptop on a convenient coffee table isn't the Approved Method!
Tim M
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Captain Kernow
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Captain Kernow » Fri May 08, 2020 8:20 am

Flymo748 wrote:We moved to remote working before the lockdown started. After about six weeks I started getting lower back pain, and went through the office's H&S online workplace assessment tool. It's a bit nanny state, but this has similar information in it:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/ck1.pdf

The difference had been sitting at my home desk for nine or ten hours a day, rather than the usual one or two. I was hunching, and twisting my spine. So the solution was simple - clear a bit of space around the desk to sit square, and raise the laptop on a spare Really Useful Box.

IMG_6480.JPG

This may not work for everyone - I already had a separate keyboard and mouse - but please do check it out before you have a problem. Whilst the pain has reduced, my back still isn't right

Flippancy to one side, you have my sympathies, Paul, speaking now as another suffer of lower back pain.

A lady at the office where I (pre-lock down) was volunteering had it so bad, that she had one of those stand-up desk arrangements, with special shelves to put the computer on. This was said to have helped considerably.
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Captain Kernow
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Captain Kernow » Fri May 08, 2020 8:24 am

Neil Smith wrote:
Captain Kernow wrote:The bits of card and arrangement of the masking tape was particularly tricky and taxed my filmography skills to the limit, but I got there in the end.


Or, just type "mobile phone tripod mount" into your favourite search engine, part with less than a fiver and in a couple of days you could have a good little mount to hold the phone steady....

Thanks, Neil. I did find out about those after the first of my lash-ups, but there wasn't time to order one before the RMWeb day.

I should probably get one, but it was rather more entertaining making the lash-up work.

I did film one sequence (of a total of four) using my older digital camera, purely because that had the correct attachment to mount on the tripod, but I couldn't 'pause' and 're-start' in one sequence, as I can with my phone, plus the digital camera (a Canon over 10 years old) had trouble with focal length during some sequences. I ended up with 31 separate pieces of footage to cover the overall sequence, so I had to ask Andy York for assistance in stitching them together to make one complete piece of footage, as that level of expertise was considerably in excess of my own miserable photographic competence.
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Paul Willis
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Paul Willis » Fri May 08, 2020 9:17 am

Captain Kernow wrote:
PeteT wrote:
Martin Wynne wrote:usual selfie "up your nose" laptop webcam.
how is a normal laptop webcam up your nose? your eyes are supposed to be level with the top of the screen at most anyway, and with the camera above that it is by default above eye level.


Goodness me, is there actually official guidance for using a laptop?

Perhaps all those interviewees we see on the news these days should be told! Clearly placing one's laptop on a convenient coffee table isn't the Approved Method!


I don't want to overblow this - I'm the last person who's an Elf'n'Satan enthusiast! I used to race motorbikes, after all...

It was just to point out that there is a world of difference between any of us using a laptop or computer for thirty minutes every so often for a quick check on the Forum, and sitting doing office work at an inappropriate desk for 8-10 hours a day. Occasional use on a coffee table is absolutely fine :-)

I have an immense amount of sympathy for your colleague with the standing desk. When we moved to our new offices around 18 months ago, every single desk was height adjustable so it could be used sitting or standing. I often used to start the day doing a couple of hours of standing, then switch to sitting as my legs tired. Lots of others did similar. It's a really positive thing for physical health. I was speaking with one colleague earlier this week, and they are improvising a standing desk at home by using an ironing board... So not just for building layouts on ;-)

Cheers
Flymo
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Le Corbusier
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Le Corbusier » Fri May 08, 2020 9:50 am

Flymo748 wrote:[
It was just to point out that there is a world of difference between any of us using a laptop or computer for thirty minutes every so often for a quick check on the Forum, and sitting doing office work at an inappropriate desk for 8-10 hours a day. Occasional use on a coffee table is absolutely fine :-)


If like me you do spend sometimes in excess of 12 hours a day using CAD ....careering towards a deadline (which may last 2 -3 weeks), getting a good chair I would say is also pretty important.

Interestingly I found that in the end a secondhand 1960s eames chair which I rescued from a skip nearly 20 years ago was best for me ... it is not adjustable but forces you to sit back in a very good posture and means you can't 'turtle forward towards the screen or sit twisted.

Each to there own ... but screen at the right height and distance, keyboard at the right height, chair that suites your phisiology, the ability to look away into the distance easily with preferably some movement to attract attention, and a regular habit of getting up to make some tea or the such like ... is definately the way to go.

None of this need be expensive ... but boy does it make a difference. :thumb
Tim Lee

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Will L
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Will L » Fri May 08, 2020 11:52 am

Just a thought but the video view up the nostril phenomena may well be as much to do with people using tablets and phones propped upon a table as anything else. One can get tired arms holding the things up for the length of a video call.

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John McAleely
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby John McAleely » Sat May 16, 2020 11:08 am

I don't wish to derail the rather good discussion about options for virtual events, but I will note on this thread that the Scaleforum 2020 exhibition at Stoke Mandeville is cancelled, as announced here.

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Re6/6
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby Re6/6 » Sat May 16, 2020 12:02 pm

Here are a couple of Tim's videos that he filmed for the RMWeb Taunton 'virtual show'.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W2XtCg_xExk&t=22s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DOEc-vxWk9I
John

David Thorpe

Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby David Thorpe » Sun Aug 09, 2020 5:31 pm

Well, here was I thinking that the idea of a virtual Scaleforum was stone dead and that the committee weren't really interested in the idea. But then I go and read John's summary of the July Committee meeting and noticed that that does not appear to be the case. I quote: "Virtual Scaleforum:there has been a good response from those due to have been at Real Scaleforum so the go-ahead was given for a virtual event. A showguide will appear as a supplement to the September Scalefour News".

Well, this is a bit of a surprise, albeit a welcome one. Can we know when it's likely to take place and what the format is likely to be?

DT

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dcockling
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Re: Scaleforum 2020

Postby dcockling » Sun Aug 09, 2020 8:15 pm

https://www.scalefour.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=144&t=7064

I'm only announcing it now as I didn't, and don't, want to promise what it may not be possible to deliver.

All the Best
Danny


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